POLICE SAY THEY ARE DISTURBED THE DODGEVILLE COUPLE WERE DISTURBED IN HOME

Drug Force Apologetic For Raid Error

Profuse apologies and promises of restitution, repair and
investigation were made by officials Wednesday in the wake of a
botched drug raid at a Dodgeville apartment building.

A six-agency illegal drug task force on Monday initially broke into
the wrong apartment and handcuffed an innocent couple as they were
preparing to retire for the night. After officers realized their
error, they eventually took four people into custody at the adjacent apartment.

The two people who were released resided at 512 Montgomery St., Apt.
4. The intended raid target was Apt. 3, said Lt. Scott Marquardt,
director of the Richland-Iowa-Grant Drug Task Force and a member of
the Platteville Police Department.

Marquardt said he is investigating how the tactical unit mixed up the
apartments and broke the big front window and ignited a "flash bang"
device outside the window, then entered through the apartment door
and handcuffed the couple. Marquardt said he didn't know if the door
was smashed in.

"They were obviously disturbed about it, and we are disturbed that
they are disturbed," said Marquardt.

The search warrant lists "apartment #3" as the target, and describes
the correct entry door: "the door access . . . faces Montgomery
Street and is the closest door to Perry Street." The building has
four apartments, with entry to all four apartments on one side of the
building. These two are adjacent, with entry doors sharing an alcove, he said.

The warrant also notes that task force member Dodgeville Police Sgt.
David Bauer is a veteran of more than 50 search warrants. The raid
was "no-knock" because, according to the search warrant, a
confidential informant told police a weapon was shown at an earlier
drug buy. Up to a dozen or more officers participated in the raid,
Marquardt said.

"We made entry and took two people into custody and discovered
shortly afterward that 'Hey, I think we're in the wrong one,'" said
Marquardt. He said the first couple was handcuffed because that was
the protocol in such a raid, to secure the area. "Everyone gets
detained, everything is made secure."

The occupants of the first apartment, Kristina Radke and Kenneth
Berhenke, described as "in their 30s," were quickly released, said
Dodgeville Police Chief Dave Frazier, who made personal visits to the
two with apologies and repair offers. Neither of the two was
available for comment Wednesday.

"It is a very humbling experience," Frazier said. "It's a reminder to
pay attention to the smallest of details and it is the very, very
last thing we would want to happen to anybody."

Frazier said Radke complained of a sore wrist and was treated for a
sprain at an area hospital.

"We will obviously take care of all damages, and if this young lady
has any medical expenses we are going to take care of those," said
Marquardt. "We regret the error."

He said the officers spoke with the couple "and we made a lot of
effort to explain what happened, up to and including, after the
search next door, of showing them what we found," he said. According
to the search warrant, officers confiscated 61 grams of packaged
marijuana, psilicybin mushrooms, pipes, a digital scale, muscle
relaxants and ammunition for a 9-mm weapon.

When officers turned their attention to the correct apartment, he
said, no windows were broken and no "flash-bangs" were ignited.
Arrested without incident were Samantha Ladow, 21; Caden Wilkinson,
18; Ashley Hubbard, 18; and Scott Jelle, 21. All four were listed -
though not their ages - on the search warrant. They were being held
in the Iowa County Jail on Wednesday pending charges.

Marquardt said the drug task force, formed in 2000, includes six
agencies: Iowa, Grant and Richland county sheriff's departments, and
police departments in Platteville, Dodgeville and Richland Center.

"There are staff devoted full-time to the task force," he said.
"Search warrants and controlled buys are our bread and butter."